An after-the-siren penalty goal to five-eighth and man-of-the-match Bernard Foley has earned the NSW Waratahs a thrilling 30-27 Super Rugby win over the Blues at Allianz Stadium.

The Waratahs trailed 24-10 at the break, their biggest halftime deficit at home since 2007, but fought back to notch their much-needed second win of the season – and just their second from 14 matches stretching back to last year.

Foley was the undoubted hero for the Tahs, not only landing the pressure penalty but also scoring a try and slotting three other second-half goals.

The victory in front of 16,429 faithful fans on a sapping Sunday afternoon revived NSW’s 2013 campaign after three worrying defeats.

After an early penalty goal from Blues five-eighth Chris Noakes, the Waratahs crossed for the opening try from a crisp backline move in the seventh minute.

Fullback Israel Folau put winger Drew Mitchell over in the corner and halfback Brendan McKibbin converted to give NSW a 7-3 advantage.

A Mitchell fumble at the back of a lineout allowed Blues hooker James Parsons to pounce and run away to score in the 11th minute, with Noakes’ conversion making it 10-7 to the visitors.

McKibbin levelled the scores with a penalty in the 22nd minute but was then forced off the field with a shoulder injury sustained in a heavy tackle from rugged Blues centre Rene Ranger.

Against the wishes of NSW captain Dave Dennis, doctors ordered the players to take a water break as the temperature hit 30 degrees.

The stoppage seemed to hurt the Tahs, who promptly conceded two soft tries in five minutes to gift the New Zealanders their 14-point halftime buffer.

First, Noakes strolled through between Adam Ashley-Cooper and a weary-looking Sitaleki Timani to score under the posts and then replacement halfback Matt Lucas made a meal of an attempted clean-up from a Blues kick to allow fullback Charles Piutau to cross.

Converted tries to Folau, from a blatant forward pass from Lucas, in the 48th minute and Foley in the 65th drew the Waratahs level.

The hosts briefly claimed a three-point lead with a 70th-minute Foley penalty, but Noakes replied two minutes later after a Waratahs blunder from the re-start.

The Tahs looked to have missed their big chance of breaking their losing run until the Blues were pinged for offside in the final seconds of the match.

To rapturous applause the ice-cool Foley nailed the match-winning goal from 35 metres out.